


Follow the Sun

by heartbeatslows



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M, but no spoilers!, gift exchange!!, post-BoO
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 05:56:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13140480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartbeatslows/pseuds/heartbeatslows
Summary: Will gets to know his new boyfriend.  He likes what he finds.





	Follow the Sun

**Author's Note:**

> Gift for Tumblr user @nocturnal-elia. Have a great year!

"So."

"So."

Will and Nico sat on the roof of Cabin Thirteen, the sepulchral light glinting off the elaborate buildings around them.  Everywhere Will looked, there was carnage.  Piles of monster dust were still spread at random through the camp grounds; whole swathes of forest had been razed to ash; the Hecate cabin had had a dent bitten out of it.  The camp looked like the war zone it was.  Will and Nico sat on the roof of Cabin Thirteen.

"So," Will said again.  The roof was only barely slanted, and he could lie flat on it.  His head was propped up on one elbow at about the height of Nico's chest.  His new boyfriend was stretched out as well, but their bodies were crossed; Nico faced the setting sun while Will looked at him.  "What else do you like, son of Hades?"

Nico shrugged.  "I like you," he said.

Will grinned.  "I like you too.  And I like cookouts, and campfires, and binging Grey's Anatomy even though it's a complete biggest mess of a show…"

Nico laughed.  The sound itself was broken, like each exhale had to fight its way out of his throat.  Will reached out with his other hand and wrapped it around Nico's.  His boyfriend never seemed to expect Will to touch him, but Will did, every chance he got.  They hadn't kissed yet; Will didn't want to move too fast – but they held hands as much was possible.

"But I don't like any of those things as much as I like you."  Will squeezed Nico's thin hand in his own.  "So.  What else do you like?"

Nico sighed and leaned backward, stretching the hand that wasn't holding on to Will behind his head.  "I don't know," he mumbled, with an awkward half-shrug even as he lay down.  "I haven't had a lot of time to think about what I like to do.  I used to play this card game, Mythomagic, but I don't really play it anymore.  I told you about that, right?"

"Yeah, you did," Will said.  He thought back over the last few months, playing out that time like a movie on rewind.  Will had asked Nico out to eat after they'd teamed up at the battle against Gaia, after Nico got back from his quest, after he returned from the Mediterranean, after he'd been kidnapped, after he'd gone alone to Tartarus.  Before that he'd been in New Rome with his sister, which may have been the last time Nico had had any sort of routine.

"When you were in New Rome."  Nico glanced over at Will; the question still hadn't been posed.  "What was a normal day like for you there?"

Nico thought for a moment.  "I'd wake up," he began.  "Usually around two in the afternoon.  Sometimes even later."

Will grinned at him.  "I always wake up at dawn," he said.  "And I go to bed when the sun goes down.  This is late for me."

"Oh, no," Nico laughed.  "Sorry to keep you up past your bedtime."

"It's okay.  I like being here with you," he told him.  "Keep going."

"Okay, um…Hazel would usually be having lunch around that time, and I'd eat breakfast with her if I ate it at all.  Afterward I'd usually shadow travel out of camp, sometimes back to here.  Someone had to take the hellhound for a walk, anyway.  Other days I'd visit my father, and tell him what I'd noticed about the two camps.  When I was in the Underworld I'd train for a while, with my sword, the Stygian iron one.  After that I'd usually talk to the shades before I went back to New Rome."

"Where did you stay the night?" Will asked.

"Different places," Nico said.  "Most nights, if I was in New Rome, I'd sleep in Pluto's temple, or else I'd come back here and sleep in my cabin.  I've fallen asleep in the Underworld before too, but the dreams are a little much, even for me."

Will yawned.  The last of the light was beginning to fade, and as much as he wanted to stay up, he actually did get more tired when the sun went down.  "You're so spooky," he murmured, struggling to keep his head from falling.

"Spooky?" Nico laughed.

"Cute," Will added, pulling Nico's hand up to his lips.  "So you like to travel."

"I guess so.  I move around a lot."

"Hmm."  Will pulled himself forward to rest his head on Nico's leg.  "You should take me somewhere."

Nico was still.  It had been a whim, lying down on top of him, but now that Will was there, he was pretty sure he was too sleepy to move.  Slowly, trying not to disturb him, Nico sat up.  His hand hovered for a moment, hesitant, before he reached down and smoothed Will's hair, stroking the blond locks affectionately.

"Anywhere," he whispered, kissing Will on the forehead.  "We can go."

Will rolled over and opened his eyes.  "Let's go west," he said.

"Where the sun's still up?"

Will nodded.  "We'll chase it across the world," he said.  "You and me.  What do you say?"

"What do I say?" Nico repeated.

He leaned down, and Will pushed himself up, so their faces met.  They held each other, and in an instant disappeared – gone before the light could fade.


End file.
